This invention relates generally to robotic palletizing equipment of the type sometimes known as cartesian-style palletizers used to transfer and stack articles from an infeed or accumulator conveyor to a pallet. More specifically, this invention has to do with the "hand" or grasping device on such a palletizer and the structure of the hand which has been designed for handling bundles of unboxed articles such as stacks of sheets of paper.
Many types of hands are well known in the industry including hands comprised of opposed palms, fork-type bottom supporting devices that are associated with a single palm, bottom supporting devices having one palm acting as a stripper palm and having a clamp for holding the supported article under pressure against the bottom supporting devices. Numerous other configurations of hands are possible as it is common to develop a hand and/or palm for specific item handling. For instance, it would be usual to have a specially shaped palm, one with semicircular indentations for instance, for lifting and palletizing buckets of paint.
The hand assembly presented herein is a specially configured hand having relatively well known components combined to provide a mechanism for handling heretofore difficult to handle product or items.